Situated in the heart of the San Juan Islands, roughly 100 miles from Seattle, FHL is a unique satellite campus that offers students an unparalleled opportunity to immerse themselves in the Pacific Northwest’s marine environment. Much like the NBA’s “bubble,” where teams were isolated to ensure player health during the pandemic, the 2020 class of MARBIO 488 became its own bubble.

Melina Wettstein, an undergraduate at the University of Washington, is pursuing a double major in marine biology and math. After she graduates, Melina plans to pursue a career as a researcher—something she has already made strides toward by publishing her research in the College of the Environment’s undergraduate journal, FieldNotes. She is also an exuberant artist, expressing her creativity through a love of painting and drawing. 

Meet Delaney Lawson who spent a quarter on the Caribbean island of South Caicos as part of a study abroad experience with the School for Field Studies.

 
Katie Hearther is a double major in both Marine Biology and Oceanography here at the University of Washington as well as a minor in Arctic Studies. She sat down with us to discuss her trajectory as a student, internship opportunities, and advice for prospective and current students interested in the marine sciences.
Why Marine Biology and what drew you to the marine science programs here at the University of Washington? 

Jonathan Huie is a recent graduate of both the UW Marine Biology and Aquatic and Fishery Sciences degrees. He is currently working at Friday Harbor Labs in the San Juan Islands as a lab technician. Part of his duties includes CT scanning UW Burke specimens as part of the NSF funded effort to scan all vertebrates and upload them to an online and open-source database. He kindly answered a few of our questions about his undergraduate experience as well as offered some advice for students thinking about pursuing a career in marine biology.

Andrew Chin, a senior double majoring in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Marine Biology shares his month-long experience sailing South Pacific with the SEA Semester program

Hi everybody! I’m Amanda Gardiner, a junior here at UW pursuing a BS in Biochemistry and Biological Oceanography with minors in Marine Biology and Paleobiology, along with a BA in English – Creative Writing Emphasis. All of these academics mean that my summers are normally filled with classes. This past summer I discovered my new favorite classroom: Cape Town, South Africa!

Abby von Hagel is a student from Seattle in the Interdisciplinary Honors Program pursuing a Major in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and a Minor in Marine Biology with plans to graduate in 2019. We talked with Abby to find out what inspires her to study marine biology and to learn how an introductory course led to her researching at the UW’s marine field station at Friday Harbor Labs.

As the infamous floating “garbage patch” churns up bits of plastic in the tropical Pacific Ocean, a University of Washington undergraduate has discovered a related problem much closer to home: nearly invisible bits of plastic on Puget Sound beaches.

Junior Hyejoo Ro is pursuing a major in Aquatic & Fishery Sciences and a minor in Marine Biology. Learn what it was like to study and research for a full quarter last autumn at the UW’s marine field station Friday Harbor Labs.